Restaurant Max

• Cuisine(s): American
  Price: $$
  Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
• Attire: casual
  Features: Takeout, Wheelchair Accessible
  Serving: Dinner, Lunch
• Alcohol: Full bar
  Reservations: Accepted, Not Necessary
  Parking: Meters

Description

Located in the Minneapolis Hotel in the hundred-year-old Midland building, Restaurant Max has contemporary, ruby-hued furnishings that make the space feel more welcoming, particularly the roomy striped booths, which are wide enough to seat six. The restauarnt is operated by Morrissey Hospitality Companies, which also runs several other metro eateries, including Tria, Pazzaluna, and the St. Paul Grill. Max is perhaps the showiest of the clan, and it's starting to look like the City Hall/Courthouse cafeteria for all the municipal movers-and-shakers it attracts. The lunch menu features fancier versions of familiar soups, salads, and sandwiches. A tasty grilled cheese, for example, comes with thick-cut bacon and truffle fries. The flatbreads are made from dough stretched nearly as thin as a sheet of puff pastry. One with ground beef and veal, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese, was rich, cheesy, and as comforting as a casserole - though far better seasoned. Dinner entrees have included red curry ahi tuna with beet risotto and braised fennel or a pomegranate-marinated rack of lamb with caramelized Brussels sprouts pancetta-studded faro. The cocktails and mocktails are also a treat: They're served in bulb-shaped glasses with colorful bits of, say, crushed raspberries, fresh sage leaves, or sliced serrano chiles that make them look as pretty as snow globes.